Up to No Good
by TwistedKeysandSnare
Summary: 14 year old Callie wants to make sure that Stef's birthday is perfect, but when her 13 year old sister Mariana blurts out one of Callie's carefully guarded secrets, she fears that everything is ruined. This will be a multi-part story focusing on the mother/daughter bond that Stef and Callie share. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**The idea for this one shot originated a few months ago when I thought about how Stef's birthday was never celebrated in the show, considering everyone else had some kind of birthday shindig at some point. Since last Tuesday's episode was about this very thing, I decided to work on this idea some more. This story focuses on Mariana and Callie trying to come up with a plan for a birthday gift and all of the mishaps and usual drama that come along with it. This is purely fluff, just saying.**

 **ATTENTION: This story is set where Callie is 14 and Mariana is 13. I wrote this story a while ago and just noticed how immature the characters seemed so I wanted to push back their ages. For the sake of this story, Aaron and Callie met back then and he had already transitioned. They skipped school and went on an adventure together, which is where Callie took the pictures and why she doesn't want Stef to see them.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy the story! -AJ**

Up to No Good

"So can you come to the mall tomorrow?" 13 year old Mariana asked impatiently as she waited for her nails to dry.

"You asked me that literally two seconds ago. I said I'd check on it." Callie replied to her sister, opening the calendar app on her phone. The girls sat comfortably in their bedroom, the evening wind brushing through the small opening in Callie's window.

"Nobody uses the calendar app, Cals. I swear, you are like an old lady." Mariana said, her eyes on the screen of her phone.

"Oh crap." Callie said, not bothering to listen to Mariana's insulting comment.

"What? Do you have plans or something?"

"No. This is much worse. Mom's birthday is on Sunday." Callie said, moving her hand to cover her mouth.

Mariana looked disbelievingly at the date on the lock screen of her phone. "Oh… my god. I completely forgot. April 14th…"

"Well… She didn't mention it…" Callie said, trying to justify their moment of ignorance.

"Mom never makes a big deal about her birthdays. She's kinda cruel that way." Mariana told her sister.

"Well we need a gift! What does Stef even like?" Callie said, standing from her bed to pace.

"Callie, calm down. It's Thursday now, so we have some time…"

"Mariana! 2 days is not much time at all!" Callie exclaimed, ambling angrily to her sister's bed.

Callie crossed her arms. Just as she was about to open her mouth to chastise Mariana again, the door opened to reveal Stef, who gave a perplexed smile to both of her daughters.

"Hey… what's with the anger there, Cal?" Stef said, reaching out a hand to rub Callie's shoulder.

"Umm…" Callie tried to whip up an explanation.

"Well whatever it was that you were getting all mad about, it can wait till tomorrow. It is time to turn out the lights. You two have school in the morning and you need some rest." Stef led Callie back to her bed before moving the covers back so her daughter could lay down. She tucked them back on top of Callie snuggly, kissing her forehead. "Watch your temper, baby," Stef whispered with a smile as Callie rolled her eyes. She pulled Callie's phone from her hands and set it on the bedside table before walking to Mariana's bed and delivering a similar goodnight salutation.

"Get some sleep, babies." Stef said in a hushed voice, turning off the light and shutting the door gently behind her.

Mariana and Callie sat in the darkness for some time, each deep in thought about possible gift ideas for their mother. But after a half-hour long brainstorming session, both teens were at a loss. They decided to sleep on it, hopeful that a new day would bring some brilliant plan.

Before breakfast, they decided to enlist the help of their brothers. Popping into the room shared by Jesus and Jude, they began a conversation. Seeing the meeting from his open door, Brandon sauntered over, curious about what his siblings were up to.

Callie closed the door quietly, not wanting to attract any attention from Stef and Lena.

"What's up?" Jesus asked.

"Mom's birthday is Sunday. We have no idea what to get her."

"Damn…" Jesus said, looking at Jude, who nodded in response. "I sorta forgot Mom even had a birthday."

"I knew," Brandon said, speaking up. His smug expression immediately disappeared when he saw his sisters' unimpressed faces. "Sorry." He stifled, ducking his head.

"So back to the point…" Callie said, trying to regroup the conversation. "We definitely need to come up with something, and quick!"

"Well… I already got her a present…" Jude said, looking around at his siblings.

"Yeah? What did you get her? We're all lost." Jesus said, eyeing his brother.

"I'm not telling you guys!" Jude said in a sassy tone. "You'll steal my idea!"

"Thanks for nothing!" Mariana exclaimed, gently pushing him outside the room and closing the door behind him.

"Hey, babies, let's go! It's almost time for school!" Stef's voice carried upstairs, startling the remaining siblings in the room as they all scrambled down for breakfast.

The kids had all met during lunch, in which time they had successfully devised the perfect group of gifts for Stef, even reuniting Jude with the group to help out on the project. The Adams Foster children were quite impressed with their gift idea: Callie, Mariana, and Brandon were to learn and rehearse Stef's favorite song, Callie was to set up a makeshift photography studio in the backyard where the kids would appear in a portrait, and Jesus would make vouchers for them all to do a day of yard work to get the yard ready for summer. After school that day, they all set off to work, Brandon helping Callie to set up the tripod that refused to stay in the right position, and Mariana picked the perfect backdrop for their family photo.

They took several shots, with Callie promising to edit them later in the afternoon. The current focus was to restore the backyard to its former appearance, considering Stef would be home from work in about an hour.

Callie and Mariana sat in their room while Callie flipped through the photos on her phone. "C'mere," She said, gesturing to Mariana who joined her on the bed.

"I like that one the best, I think." Mariana said, pointing to a particular photo. "Are there more?"

"Yeah, I think so…" Callie said absentmindedly, her focus drifting.

Mariana looked at a few more pictures, uttering the occasional "ew" or "not bad." Until, that was, she instead inquired: "Ooh! Who is that hottie?"

Callie's head jerked around, her attention on her phone. She gasped as the sultry face of Aaron Baker at the beach looked up at her through the screen.

"Mariana! Give me that!" Callie yelled, reaching for the device.

"Not until you tell me who he is!"

"No, Mariana! Give me my phone!"

Mariana took off running, leaving their bedroom and rushing downstairs.


	2. Chapter 2

Stef sat casually in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Mariana! Get back here! Give it back, you—" She heard from the stairs. Suddenly, a speeding ball of sass, brown hair, and fashionable fabrics whizzed past her and into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

She stood up from her stool, standing in the middle of the kitchen as her oldest daughter nearly collided into her, instead slipping and careening to the ground.

"…What the…" Stef stammered out before her eyes flew to Callie on the kitchen floor. Mariana peeked her head out of the bathroom door, also peering at Callie, who laid on the floor cradling her elbow. Stef bent down to Callie's level and rested one hand on her back and the other on her leg.

"What happened, baby? What hurts?" She asked, still very much confused about the situation.

"Nothing. I'm fine." Her daughter responded, but winced through the end of her sentence.

"Callie." Stef coaxed.

"Umm… my elbow… and my knee, too." She clarified to her mother.

"Ok. Listen, why don't we get you over to the couch and I'll take a look at this. You think you can stand?" Callie nodded.

Stef reached down to help her up, wrapping Callie's good arm around her own shoulder and steadying Callie's body against her own. "You okay?" Stef whispered to her daughter as she brought her to the couch and set her down gently, minding the girl's injuries. She gingerly picked up Callie's arm and inspected her elbow, letting out a breath when her daughter was able to bend it without too much pain. Stef then moved to kneel in front of the couch and rolled up Callie's pants to her knees.

"Ow…" Callie whined, looking at the dark bruises already appearing on her leg.

"Mariana, please grab two ice packs from the freezer for your sister. Thanks, love." She said as she took the ice packs from her daughter's hands. She held an ice pack on Callie's knee before handing Callie the second one, which she rested her elbow on. Stef rubbed Callie's leg as she knelt in front of the couch as she eyed her two daughters.

"Now why exactly were you two sprinting and thrashing around the house again?" Stef asked with a bit of humor in her voice.

"Uhh…" Callie stuttered, trying to come up with a reasonable lie that would persuade her mother to drop the subject.

"Callie has pictures of a cute guy on her phone." Mariana said, shrugging, as she leaned her elbows on the arms of the couch. "She won't tell me who he is."

Callie cringed as she watched Stef's eyes travel from her sister to back to her. She gave Mariana a death stare but her sister couldn't care less and instead looked at herself through the mirror on the other side of the room.

"Oh, yeah? And who is this boy that we don't know about?" Stef asked as Callie's gaze shot down to her lap. Callie stayed silent, willing to just disappear in thin air. Stef sighed. _I guess it won't be that easy…_ She thought.

"Miss Thing, I see you've got Callie's phone. Let's see just who you were talking about." Mariana unlocked the device and held up Aaron's picture.

"Who is that, Callie?" Stef asked in a no-nonsense voice.

"Just a friend…" She mumbled back.

"A friend that I've never heard of or met?" Stef asked. Callie shook her head.

"Hey. Look at me." Stef snapped, fed up with Callie avoiding eye contact. She tilted Callie's chin until her daughter met her gaze. She felt her heart melt a little when she saw Callie's big, scared eyes, but she knew that this was a time when she needed to be firm. "Who is he?" She asked. "What's his name?"

"His name is Aaron. He's in photography club at school. We met a few weeks ago." Callie said.

"…Okay…" Stef said, visibly calmer. Callie swallowed thickly. _Ok, Mom just thinks he's a friend from photography club… I'm not lying… maybe she'll just drop this whole thing._ Callie thought. Stef had other plans.

"But if he were just your friend from school, I don't think you would look this guilty." Stef hypothesized.

She looked over at Callie, who appeared nervous and shaky. _I have to handle this delicately…_ She thought.

"Mariana, go upstairs, please. I need to talk to your sister for a minute."

"But mo-om!" Mariana retaliated.

"Now, please. I'm not asking you again." Mariana huffed as she dragged herself upstairs. As soon as she heard Mariana's bedroom door close, Stef stood up and sat next to Callie on the couch.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Cal?" Stef asked, shifting so she could have a good view of her daughter.

Callie sighed. "Promise you won't get too mad?" She asked.

"Well, honey, I can't really promise you that." Stef said. Callie closed her eyes for a minute before opening them again and beginning to speak.

"Umm, a couple of weeks ago, Aaron and I were hanging out at lunch, just talking, when we started talking about the ocean. He mentioned seeing this really pretty beach once in this book of beautiful places in San Diego, and I recognized the name because that's the place that my mom would take Jude and me sometimes on walks. He said that he really wanted to take pictures there sometime, so I told him that I knew how to get there. Anyway, it was a really nice day and everything so we wanted to go right then. He had a free period at the end of the day and asked if I would show him how to get there. I had English for that period but I thought he was really cool and I wanted to go… so I left with him. I know it was really wrong and I'm sorry. I thought I was gonna get busted but then I noticed that Timothy accidently marked me present and I just kinda thought I wouldn't tell you… It was really bad of me… I'm really, really sorry." Callie let out a breath and looked up at Stef.

"Callie… You know how wrong that was. Skipping classes is never the right thing to do. This is so out of character for you."

Callie gulped. "There's something else… He's not just a friend, not really, anyway. When we were on the beach, he kissed me. It was nice… I… uh… I think I like him."

Stef had no words for how she felt. She was feeling kind of weird about the fact that her little girl had kissed someone, but she had to remain consistent and collected if she was to drive home her point to Callie.

"Callie… I get that you are 14 and you want to feel independent and make decisions and have crushes and a boyfriend but your actions that day were out of line. You could have waited until after school or the weekend and had Mama or me drive you but you ran off by yourself without letting anyone know where you were. You ditched class and instead of coming clean to me or Mama you covered it up and lied about it. These are not smart choices you are making here, young lady. I am grounding you for two weeks right now and when Mama gets home, I am going to have a long chat with her and she will add on something else to your punishment."

"I'm sorry…" Calle said again, feeling ashamed as her mother looked down on her disappointedly.

"Yeah, Callie, I know that you're sorry, but there are some things that I have to teach you as your mother and this is one of those things. Now you need to stay on the couch and off of that knee for a while. No T.V, I'll be right in the kitchen so I'll know if you start watching something. And this," She said, reaching for Callie's phone, "This will be mine for a week, or longer if you try anything funny. This is strike one." Stef exited the living room, leaving Callie alone with her guilt.


	3. Chapter 3

Callie laid on the couch for some time, just lost in thought. She let her mind wander to her mother's birthday, a date that was fast approaching, and thought how much more Stef would hate her when she had nothing to give her on her birthday. She sighed and sat up, her eyes ripped from the celling when she heard a door open and a loud, boisterous voice ring in from the kitchen.

"Surprise! Happy almost birthday!"

"Mother? What… how did you get here?" Callie heard a confused voice respond.

"I took a flight, Stephanie. Then I took a cab."

"Wha- without telling anyone?"

"It's called a surprise. You're no fun. Where am I putting my stuff? The living room?" Callie heard as the voices grew closer, matching footsteps that clonked through the kitchen.

"Callie is resting in there right now."

"Great! She can help fill up the air mattress."

"She hurt her knee, Mom. She has to stay off of it."

Callie watched as two faces emerged from the archway in the kitchen, her grandma looking concerned and exciting and her mom looking rather overwhelmed.

"My poor darling! What happened to your knee?" Sharon asked, wrapping Callie in a big hug.

"Hi, Grandma." Callie mumbled, pressed against Sharon's shoulder. "I slipped in the kitchen."

"Aww. You feeling better?" Sharon asked, continuing the conversation to include the minor tribulations of her journey from Florida. Callie tried to nod and pay attention to her grandma's story, but she felt her focus shift to her mom, who stood in the corner of the room looking a bit downcast and disappointed. Callie began to shrink in her seat, feeling the shame radiate off of her and wanting nothing more to be wrapped in one of Stef's classic bear hugs. _I made her hate me,_ Callie thought. _This is my fault._

Callie, Stef and Sharon heard the door creak open again. Lena walked through the archway with Jesus and on her heels, clad in a soccer uniform.

"Grandma!" He shouted before running up to her.

"Hi, Sharon." Lena said, smiling, before giving her a hug.

"Did you know about this?" Stef asked.

"Of course I did." Her wife responded. "Were you surprised?"

"Yeah." Stef breathed.

One by one, the remaining Adams Fosters kids ran down the steps to greet their grandma. Callie felt safe in the crowd of people, as she couldn't see if Stef was upset through the wall of siblings between them. The family continued to mingle as the adults moved to the kitchen to make dinner. Jesus helped Callie upstairs and helped her get situated on her bed with fresh ice packs and a book to read. The other siblings congregated in Jude and Jesus' room, but Callie wanted to be alone, so she sat in her room, waiting for dinner.

Downstairs, Sharon, Stef, and Lena began preparing dinner. They had their usual conversations, with Lena talking about her day at work and a particularly humorous story about a group of second graders barricading themselves in the game closet in order to avoid a spelling quiz. After the laughs died down, Stef recounted the information from her conversation with Callie.

"…a random boy, Lena. She skipped class with a random boy, getting on a bus and going across town without letting anybody know where she was going. Oh! And she had her first kiss that day!" Stef scoffed.

Sharon suppressed an "Aww!" while glancing at Lena.

"I'll go up and talk to her a little. I'll check on her knee, too. You know that she'd never admit it herself if it got worse." Lena said with a sigh. She left the kitchen and found Callie in her room.

"Hey." Lena said, creaking the door open.

"You know, don't you?" Callie asked, looking down.

"Mmhm." Lena moved across the room and sat down on Callie's bed, carefully lifting her daughter's leg onto her lap.

"Let's see about this knee, okay?" She said, rolling up the cuff on Callie's pants. She noticed the darkened bruise, wincing as she imagined the fall that caused it.

"How is it feeling? It looks pretty bad." Lena asked. Callie shrugged.

"Do you want another ice pack? Some pain killers?"

Callie hesitated before speaking. "What are you waiting for? Where's the lecture? Why are you bothering with all this crap about my knee?" She asking, before cringing when she thought about her word choice. Lena hated when they used the word crap.

"Sorry." She said.

"Well to answer your question, I first wanted to check you out because you are my baby and I worry about you. And you and I both know that what you did was wrong. You look so guilty that it makes it pretty clear. I think Mom already gave you a lecture, but I am going to add onto your punishment. I am the supervisor for detention on Fridays and Mondays. You are going to join me there for the next 3 weeks. 3:15 to 4:30."

Callie nodded. Lena gave her a pat on her ankle and a kiss on the forehead before placing a container of pain killers and a water cup on her nightstand and heading back to her wife and mother-and-law, leaving Callie alone with her book and her guilt.


	4. Chapter 4

Back in the kitchen, the Moms and Sharon were hard at work preparing the spaghetti and meatballs and vegetables that the family would be eating for dinner that night. Stef was getting quiet again, causing Lena and Sharon to glance at each other.

"Honey? What's up?" Lena asked cautiously.

"I just can't believe it, Lena. She knows better than to do this." Stef said, mixing the salad with more vigor than she had previously.

"Yes, she does, and she's sitting up in her room filled with guilt because you taught her that it's wrong." Lena responded.

"But it's the fact that she still did it that concerns me. I thought she left her irresponsible decisions behind when she came home after running away. She learned how to accept our love and become a part of this family and promised that she would make good decisions and work harder to take care of herself." Stef said, pausing her dinner preparation to pace around the counter.

"Yeah… but Stef, she's a teenager. A teenager who is bound to make mistakes." Lena replied.

Stef was about to open her mouth to speak when Sharon piped up from the other side of the room.

"And may I just add, Stephanie, that you did this type of thing several times during your teenage years. Do you remember that time that you and your new 'cool' friend group skipped science class to go to the pier?"

"No? I don't remember that at all." Stef said, confused.

"I do. You were 15, and had just started to hang out with the popular kids, a whole bunch of them. You all decided to go to the pier one day and left school early, thinking I wouldn't notice. I gave you a talking to, but that was during one of the rough patches of my relationship with your dad and I didn't tell him. It probably would have been way more memorable if he knew you skipped school. Anyway, I was very disappointed in you, but I knew that it was a thing that teenagers do and that I would have to more or less allow you to handle the situation on your own. You learned from it, and to my knowledge, you never did it again."

Stef nodded, thinking deeply about the information that was just given to her as they finished dinner and put it on the kitchen table. Stef and Lena allowed Callie to eat dinner upstairs so she didn't have to move her leg, something Callie was very thankful for. Callie didn't get much sleep that night, but neither did her mother, who was stuck reliving one of the scariest parts of her life.

 _-Flashback- 2 years earlier_

" _All right, babies, up and at 'em! It's such a beautiful day out! Come on!" Stef called as she knocked on her kids' doors on a bright summer morning. She opened the door to the bedroom shared by her two girls, expecting to see two grouchy faces with crazy bedhead protesting having to wake up before noon. Instead, she only saw one._

" _Hey Mariana, where's Miss Callie?" Stef asked, furrowing her brow._

" _Dunno." Mariana said sleepily._

 _Stef playfully combed the house, searching for her foster daughter. Her playful confusion turned to fear when she had searched every room in the house to no avail. By 11:00, she was in full blown panic mode. She and Lena had been calling the parents of her few friends, the kids checking the spots she frequented that were in walking distance from the house. Stef paced around Callie and Mariana's room, looking for any sign of a note that explained Callie's whereabouts. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a piece of ripped notebook paper through a crack in the doors of Callie's closet. She opened the double doors, but was overcome with emotion when she took in what was in front of her. The closet was almost empty, save for a few items that Stef and Lena had bought her with their own money. The piece of paper read:_

 _I have to be on my own now. Thank you for everything and please take care of Jude and let him know this isn't his fault. He deserves to be happy._

 _I'm really sorry._

 _Stef gasped. She recognized the handwriting immediately as the handwriting of her sweet 12-year-old that she had just asked to adopt. She put her head in her hands and sunk onto Callie's bed in tears._

 _Her family didn't know anything, not even Jude, who cried into Lena's shoulder upon reading the note. Despite Lena calling out to her about protocol and trying to calm down, Stef grabbed her car keys and jumped into her car, speeding down the street to find Callie before anyone could stop her._

 _She drove on all the routes that she knew her foster daughter was familiar with: the road to school, the way to her favorite burger stand… but she didn't see the brunette anywhere. As frustration and desperation were about to set in, she spotted an old wooden sign in the corner of her eye that caught her attention._

 _SAN DIEGO PIER AND MARINA_

 _-EST 1963-_

 _Something in the back of her head told her to head over there, so she made the turn and drove into the parking lot. As she approached the pier, she felt goosebumps on her arms. There was something so familiar about it, but she couldn't quite place it. She forgot the uneasy feeling instantly when she saw her Callie sitting on a bench overlooking the water._

 _She slowly approached the girl, taking a seat next to her on the bench. Callie was in her own little world, gazing into the waves, not realizing that the woman she was most desperate to hide from was right next to her._

" _Callie-" Stef started to say. Callie jolted back into reality, trying to sprint away as soon as she saw Stef._

" _Oh no you don't." Stef said firmly as she got a good grip on Callie's arms, pulling her backwards and into her lap. Callie struggled against her hold for a few moments._

" _Hey, Hey, Hey." Stef cooed into Callie's ear as she began to rock the both of them. "No more running, baby. I've got you." It didn't take much longer for tears to start pouring out of Callie's eyes and she buried herself into Stef, who only held her tighter. Once she had calmed down a little, Stef wiped away Callie's tears and shuffled her until she sat perched on Stef's knee, her arm around Callie, but in a way where she could see her daughter's face and hold onto her at the same time._

" _You can't take off like that, Callie. Everyone is so worried. What happened, huh? I thought you wanted to be adopted, so did something change your mind?" Stef asked sharply as the waves crashed in front of them. Callie stayed silent._

" _You have to say something, missy." Stef paused to look her daughter in the eye. Callie broke the eye contact almost immediately, but soon her quiet voice could be heard above the background noise on the pier._

" _I'm scared."_

" _Scared of what?"_

" _I don't know."_

" _I need a little more than that, Callie."_

" _I'm scared that I'm putting too much trust in a family that I only met a few months ago… and that… maybe, since I'm an older kid, you'll change your mind and send me away and I'll miss you. It's happened before, but I didn't let myself get too attached. I'm scared because… I think I love you. You and your whole family. And that's scary, cause I haven't felt love for anyone but Jude for a really long time… And everything is just really scary."_

 _Stef took a second to process what she heard before speaking again._

" _Baby. Don't you think trust and commitment are a two-way street? Don't you think that when we adopt you, Lena and I are promising to be your moms forever?"_

" _I've never really seen people stick to their promises." Callie responded._

" _Sweetheart, I know that loving and trusting people can be scary and hard, but I want nothing more than to help you trust us. Loving us isn't a bad thing, in fact, hearing you say those words was one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. We love you so much and we want you to be a part of our family officially, if that's what you want."_

 _Callie nodded. She leaned against Stef and took a deep breath. After a long pause, Callie spoke again._

" _What's gonna happen to me?"_

 _Stef sighed. "Well, Callie, I'm going to get you home as fast as possible so we can talk to Mama about all this."_

" _Is CPS there?"_

" _No, Callie. We wanted to give you a chance to come home."_

" _But I didn't take that chance. You found me."_

" _We didn't call CPS because we hoped that we could find you and see where your head's at. You won't be getting away with skipping consequences for your little stunt today, but I'm keeping you far away from juvie because I believe in second chances. That being said, though, you are going to be on a short leash for a while, young lady. Come here. Stand up. Let's go home, it's getting late."_

 _END OF FLASHBACK_

The next day, the Adams Fosters busied themselves with tasks around the house, doing some gardening with Sharon and Lena and spending the beautiful April day enjoying the outdoors. Even though it was Saturday, Stef had gone off to catch up on some paperwork, leaving Callie with more guilt for pushing her out of her own house. Callie spent most of the day moping around, eventually sitting on the back porch to watch the sunset alone, when she heard Sharon walk through the double doors and look up at the night sky, then at Callie. She sat down beside her granddaughter. Callie could sense what was going to happen next: Sharon wanted to talk.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey there." Came Sharon's voice from behind Callie. "What'cha up to?"

Callie responded with a shrug.

"You don't know?"

Another shrug.

"You're a talkative kid." Sharon sat down next to Callie on the porch step.

"You okay, Darling?" She asked. Callie shrugged again, but Sharon put her hands on Callie's shoulders. "No more shrugs. Come on and use your sweet voice."

Callie finally spoke. "I ruined everything, Grandma."

"Nonsense."

"Mom is so mad at me. She left the house earlier today and now it's dark and she's not home. I forced her to leave the house and now she's not coming back."

"Doll. You're letting your head run wild again. It's not even that late yet."

Callie put her hands under her chin. "But Mom doesn't want to come back. She hates me."

Sharon shuffled so she could face Callie. "Now let's get one thing straight. Your mom does not hate you. She loves you. So much. So much that she takes it personally whenever you do something wrong. You and your brothers and sister are her life. She'd give up anything for you 5 in a heartbeat, guaranteed."

"So she's beating herself up and it's all my fault." Callie mumbled, talking into her knees.

"Hold on now. Personally, I think your mom is going a little crazy being so mad at you. I mean, Stephanie was quite the little rebel when she was your age, so she has no place to talk."

"Really?" Callie asked with peaked interest. Stef had never told her these stories before.

"Oh, you bet!" Sharon grinned. "Parties, pranks, _ditching school,_ " She punctuated. Callie looked down at the dirt.

"When Stephanie was acting out, I always told her that I hoped she'd have a kid just like her one day so she'd feel my pain." Sharon chuckled and nudged Callie. "Ya know, I never knew how wonderful that would actually be until I met you. You two are so similar, it astounds me."

"She doesn't want anything to do with me." Callie said tearfully.

"Oh, honey," Sharon said, gathering Callie in her arms. "Anger doesn't last forever. Especially anger at you. Who can stay mad at those puppy dog eyes, hmm?" Sharon posed, lifting Callie's chin. "And hey, moms sometimes act crazy to keep their babies safe. Haven't your moms ever shown you Planet Earth? It's like that. It just means they love you." Callie rested her head on her Grandma's shoulder. The two shared each other's company for a few moments. Cold gusts of nighttime spring wind blew by, leaving them shivering.

"It's getting cold out here, baby. Why don't we come inside, huh?"

"Can I please stay out a little longer?" Callie asked.

Sharon smiled kindly. "A bit longer. I don't need you shivering out here and getting sick." She stood up and crossed the porch, opening the back door of the house and slipping inside. From the kitchen window she watched her granddaughter. Callie sat there in just a thin t-shirt and athletic shorts. She must have been freezing. Sharon hoped that her stubborn daughter would just come home and go out to the porch and wrap Callie in a big hug and tell her she loved her. That's what Callie needed most, after all. Her equally stubborn granddaughter was not going to leave her spot on the porch until she felt like Stef had forgiven her, no matter how cold she must be sitting out there.

Sharon heard shuffling behind her and saw Stef entering the front door.

"Did you blow off some steam?" Sharon asked her daughter.

"Yeah, mom. I got a lot of work done and did a little workout in the department gym."

"You do know that when you were Callie's age you raised a lot of hell, right.?"

"Yeah, mom."

"And you do know that a little bit of teenage rebellion is healthy for a kid?"

"Yeah, mom."

"And you do think that it's kinda cute that Callie is having her first romance?"

"Well, let's not go too far." Stef chuckled, then took a deep breath and got more serious again. "I mean, I get that she's fourteen and I should be happy that she's doing normal teenage stuff. I just worry so much. She has a past of running away and making risky decisions. She has a criminal record, for God's sake! I don't want her falling in with the wrong crowd and getting in trouble again. Plus, she's my baby. She's growing up too fast." Stef blinked away a few tears.

She walked up to Sharon, joining her mother in gazing out the window at where her Callie was sitting.

"My baby. It's freezing out there." Stef mumbled.

"She's stewing out there." Sharon mentioned. "Yeah, it's always been hard for her to understand that we still love her even when we're mad at her. She's almost two years out of the system and she's still carrying around that fear with her." Stef mused.

"You know what she needs most right now?" Sharon asked, looking over from her granddaughter to her daughter.

"Hmm?"

"A hug from her mom." Sharon answered simply. "Go out there."

Stef grabbed the big, fluffy blanket from the couch and opened the door to the porch. She silently came and sat down next to Callie, wrapping the large blanket around the two of them. She rested her hand on Callie's good knee. "You're freezing." She said, wrapping Callie tighter in the blanket.

"You made a dumb choice, Callie." Stef said, breaking the silence between them once again.

"I know." Callie murmured.

"You know, I think I worry about you more than I do about your siblings. I don't exactly know why. Maybe it's because you have a criminal record and I don't want you back doing that kind of stuff. Maybe it's cause you remind me so much of myself that I feel like I'm watching myself make stupid mistakes again. Whatever the reason, you drive me insane whenever you pull a stunt like this, do you understand?"

Callie nodded.

"I'm so proud of you though. To think that two years ago you were in Juvie and now you're a straight-A student who writes for the school paper and plays the guitar and is so incredibly sweet and helpful... I'm amazed by you. I know I got really mad about this. It's... possible... that I could be overreacting a little bit about this whole situation, but I'm also mad because I know you know better. And the truth is, I guess I'm just not ready for my girl to grow up. If you're going to be anything like how I was as a teenager... then we have a challenging few years ahead of us."

Callie sniffled.

"Oh baby. Come here." Stef helped Callie into her lap, being especially careful of her daughter's injuries. "If you think you're too big for this, you're mistaken, my friend." Callie burrowed her head into her mom's shoulder, feeling strong arms wrap around her and leaning into the embrace. Stef pressed soft kisses to Callie's hairline, protecting her with their cocoon of blankets.

 **Hey guys! I really wanted to update this story. Even though I haven't been writing as much, I still read almost every single Foster's fic being written right now, so if you're writing, keep going please! It's awesome to keep this show alive and imagine the characters as dumb teenagers still. How do y'all feel about Good Trouble? I watched every episode of season 1, but ever the Stef/Callie fan, I wished for more interaction between the two. I might write a one shot or two that take place during the Good Trouble era? We'll see. If you have any story requests, I'd love to hear them! I have a little bit more time on my hands now that summer is here. As always, thank you so much for reading!**

 **-A.J.**


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